River Rivelin

The River Rivelin is a river in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.It rises on the Hallam moors, in north west Sheffield, and joins the River Loxley (at Malin Bridge). The Rivelin Valley, through which the river flows, is a three and a half mile long woodland valley which includes the popular Rivelin Valley Nature Trail that was created in 1967. The valley has farmland on its gentler upper slopes.A relatively fast-flowing river (it drops 80 metres between Rivelin Mill Bridge and Malin Bridge), the Rivelin is fed by a constant release of water from the nearby moorland peat. Its flow was exploited for centuries as a power source, driving the water wheels of up to twenty industries (forges, metal-working and flour mills) along its course.HistoryRoman timesThere is evidence of Roman occupation of the area which comes from tablets found on the Stannington side of the Rivelin Valley which record the granting of land to retiring Roman auxiliaries of the Sunuci tribe. Other evidence of Roman occupation comes from finds on Walkley Bank Road, which leads onto the ridge facing Stannington.Medieval timesIn medieval times the Rivelin valley was part of a large tract of land set aside by the Lords of Hallamshire for deer hunting. It was known as Rivelin Chase or Firth and covered thousands of acres on the western upland outskirts of the parish of Sheffield. In 1637 John Harrison after surveying the area declared that the firth had an area of 6,863acre. 5531acre of this was within Sheffield Parish with the rest in the Parish of Bradfield. Until the 20th century the River Rivelin formed the north-western boundary of Sheffield.